[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H11809-H11810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TOLEDO COMMUNITY REMEMBERS AND PAYS TRIBUTE TO YITZHAK RABIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, last evening on November 6, the greater 
Toledo community gathered at Temple Shomer Emunim to pay tribute to the 
heroic life of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Our citizenry 
humbly assembled--Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, people of all faiths 
and denominations--to stand together as free people, of diverse 
heritage, to light candles of commemoration and of peace. Our people 
wished to demonstrate that here in the United States--a Nation 
dedicated to justice, human betterment, and ``E Pluribus Unum''--One 
from many--we stand at one with people of peace, wherever they reside.
  We witness through our unity as well as our deep sorrow that the hope 
for peace for which Prime Minister Rabin laid down his life will 
enlarge the resolve of the entire world to bring its human and 
spiritual resources to bear on the Middle East peace process. May the 
cause for which he so nobly shed his blood be sanctified.
  The heartfelt remarks of Rabbi Alan Sokobin, cochair community 
relations of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo, delivered with 
eloquence, offered deep comfort and inspiration. Let them be inserted 
in this Record as historical evidence of the international 
understanding of our Toledo community and the deep desire of all our 
people for reconciliation.

[[Page H 11810]]

  Those officiating at the ceremony included: Michael Berebitsky, 
president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo; Rabbi Samuel 
Weinstein, Temple Shomer Emunim; Cantor Judy Seplowin, Temple Shomer 
Emunim; Cantor David Friedes, Temple Bnai Israel; Rabbi Arnold 
Bienstock, Temple Bnai Israel; Judah Segal, executive director of the 
Jewish Federation of Greator Toledo and Jewish community 
representatives; Cantor Evan Rubin, Congregation Etz Chayim; Rabbi 
Edward Garsek, Congregation Etz Chayim; and Rabbi Sokobin.
  Mr. Speaker, Rabbi Sokobin spoke on behalf of our entire community 
when he said of the death of Prime Minister Rabin: ``We all now share a 
pain which will not go away.''
  Then he reminded us of the life of Prime Minister Rabin:

       [All his life, almost all his years were years of war. He 
     was a first generation Sabra born of parents who fled 
     persecution in Europe. His parents met when they fought side 
     by side defending the Jews of the Old City who were 
     defenseless when attacked in the orchestrated riots, the 
     pogroms, of 1920. As a child of the thirties he was aware of 
     tragedy enveloping the Jews of Europe. In Palestine, there 
     were descriptions of horror as European Jewry was being 
     wrapped in bloody shrouds of hatred. He was very conscious, 
     deeply affected, by both the hatred of Jews in Europe and the 
     enmity of Arabs.
       His youthful passion was agronomy. He wanted to plant, to 
     cultivate, to inspire the sacred soil to flourish. A young 
     man of exceptional intelligence, at Kadoorie Agricultural 
     School, he was the number one student. He achieved the 
     highest score, comparable to one SAT scores, in Palestine. 
     But he gave up his personal dream and accepted onerous 
     responsibility. He became a soldier. He dropped the plowshare 
     and took up the sword. His adult life was the sword. His army 
     service was dedicated to killing. As a young man he killed, 
     personally. Later, as a military commander he directed others 
     that they might kill. He was well acquainted with death.
       His final evening of life, at a rally for peace he joined 
     in singing the song: Shiru shir la-shalom, sing a song of 
     peace].

  Mr. Speaker, it is our desire as the Toledo community on an 
interfaith and interdenominational basis to journey to the Middle East 
and to Israel as we recommit ourselves as witnesses to peace and in his 
memory and in our own way help Prime Minister Rabin's dream of peace 
reach ultimate fulfillment.
  May God rest his soul and give comfort to his family, the people of 
Israel, and peace-loving peoples everywhere.
  Mr. Speaker, I include the remarks of Rabbi Sokobin for the Record, 
as follows:

       I have stood before you and represented you in other 
     dolorous occasions. During moments of personal grief when 
     your beloved lay before you and your grief required 
     articulation you turned to me for words to tell of the 
     immensity of your sorrow. I spoke for you other times as 
     well. When we all were gripped by unbearable excruciating 
     communal anguish such as that time of evil when the Israeli 
     athletes were massacred at Munich. Who can forget our 
     emotions when there was that craven attack on Yom Kippur, our 
     holiest of days. We have gathered together as caring 
     community too many times when implacable enemies used the 
     sword and inflicted unbearable pain.
       Each time that I spoke to and for the community, I faced my 
     own humanness and my own personal limitations. I could not 
     explain those verities which were beyond my ken. I could not 
     really interpret the activities of others that were outside 
     of my understanding. I could not and still cannot understand, 
     comprehend, the depth of hatred in some that they would wage 
     war and commit terrorism. I could not and still cannot 
     understand the malignity and cruelty of human beings who are 
     willing to, who desire to, inflict excruciating pain on 
     others.
       But in the past it was enemies of the Jewish people who 
     were uncompromising and unrelenting in their hostility. It 
     was enemies who had views of destruction on their lips. This 
     is the first time where the ripping, searing pain was caused, 
     generated, not by a foe. What crushes my soul, causing 
     agonizing soul searching, is what so many have said with 
     simple majesty, ``Jews don't kill Jews.'' Until now it has 
     been a truism, an irrefutable axiom, that the political and 
     ideological cannibalism that infects and contaminates other 
     societies has not tainted Jewish life. Until now!
       Yitzhak Rabin's life was taken by a senseless, irrational, 
     stupid and unthinking act. That the finger that pulled the 
     trigger had pointed to words in Torah is unthinkable! That a 
     Jew could denigrate all that we represent, our ideals, our 
     sanctified mission, the visions enunciated in our tradition, 
     our God given flawless purposes is monstrous. We all now 
     share a pain which will not go away. That this pain would be 
     generated by the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin is also 
     unthinkable. He in his life represented Israel's and the 
     Jewish people's highest hope. In the moments prior to his 
     death he exemplified and epitomized the torturous path of our 
     people in our generation.
       All his life, almost all his years were years of war. He 
     was a first generation Sabra born of parents who fled 
     persecution in Europe. His parents met when they fought side 
     by side defending the Jews of the Old City who were 
     defenseless when attacked in the orchestrated riots, the 
     pogroms, of 1920. As a child of the thirties he was aware of 
     tragedy enveloping the Jews of Europe. In Palestine, there 
     were descriptions of horror as European Jewry was being 
     wrapped in bloody shrouds of hatred. He was very conscious, 
     deeply affected, by both the hatred of Jews in Europe and the 
     enmity of Arabs.
       His youthful passion was agronomy. He wanted to plant to 
     cultivate, to inspire the sacred soil to flourish. A young 
     man of exceptional intelligence, at Kadoorie Agricultural 
     School, he was the number one student. He achieved the 
     highest score, comparable to our SAT scores, in Palestine. 
     But he gave up his personal dream and accepted onerous 
     responsibility. He became a soldier. He dropped the plowshare 
     and took up the sword. His adult life was the sword. His army 
     service was dedicated to killing. As a young man he killed, 
     personally. Later, as a military commander he directed others 
     that they might kill. He was well acquainted with death.
       His final evening of life, at a rally for peace he joined 
     in singing the song: Shiru, shir la-shalom, sing a song of 
     peace! He was blessed with active intelligence, deep 
     commitment, dedication and unusual ability but he was not 
     endowed with a singing voice. But he sang, Shini Shir la-
     shalom which is the Israeli equivalent of sixties song. ``All 
     we are asking, is give peace a chance.'' This was his final 
     vision, his hope. He wanted the blessing to live to see his 
     Israel proud, strong, productive, living in amity and concord 
     in the family of nations. He wanted to lead his country and 
     his people who had been tortured by generations of war, a 
     people who knew well the torment of mangled bodies and hasty 
     funerals, to peace. He had walked with grieving families 
     accompanying their loved ones to their place of peace in the 
     military cemetery. Now he asked them to walk with him on a 
     path of hope, not of promises, but trust and faith. He asked 
     them to sing a new song, a song of peace.
       We have gathered together on this sorrowful and melancholy 
     evening not to mourn a man. By any measurable standard he was 
     immensely successful and fulfilled. he was a richly loved and 
     loving husband, parent and grandparent. He was an eminent 
     soldier and statesman, honored by the world for his 
     achievements. Beyond these accomplishments, which reflected 
     both his leadership qualities and his humaneness, Yitzhak 
     Rabin fulfilled a fundamental Biblical mandate
       And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
       And their spears into pruning hooks
       Nation shall not lift up sword against nation
       Neither shall they learn war anymore. (Micah 4:3)
    
    
       This memorial service honors Yitzhak Rabin, a planter and a 
     soldier. He protected his people, their ideals, and planted 
     within them new hope. A hope which is ours as Jews. But our 
     service is not only a memorial. It is our response to our 
     initial question. How could a Jew slaughter another Jew? I 
     have heard, as you must have as well, numerous commentators 
     refer to the ``loss of innocence'' in Israel. Innocence 
     meaning naivety, perhaps. But innocence meaning purity, 
     integrity, utopian idealism is not lost. No one can take this 
     from us. Not as long as we maintain those ideals, those 
     sacred purposes. We are a sanctified people. We are not 
     pragmatic: we are prophetic. For us, this is our moment of 
     recommitment. Now we dedicate ourselves to share with our 
     fellow Jews of Israel, our brethren throughout the world in 
     all our habitations to seek a path of reconciliation and 
     equitable peace.
       We would have a peace predicated upon the ancient 
     principles enunciated in our sacred tradition. We must devote 
     ourselves to ancient the mandate given us by the great Rabbi 
     Hillel.
       Be of the disciples of Aaron.
       Love peace, pursue peace.
       Reach out to your fellow human being. (Ethics of the 
     Fathers).
       We must stretch forth our hands, reaching across the gulf 
     of hostility, to create peace, amity, concord and hope.

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